Kendrick Roberson
Unit 18 Faculty
Biography
As a community activist, Dr. Roberson currently holds two elected positions. In 2019, he was elected to be the chair of the city of Carson’s only rent control board, ensuring that residents are not treated unfairly. In 2020, he was elected to represent the over 100,000 federal employees across the nation who are under the age of 40, as the Chair of the American Federation of Employees’ (AFGE) National YOUNG Committee. In 2021, Dr. Roberson also became the Chair of the Los Angeles Black Labor Table. Finally, in 2021, he successfully spearheaded the campaign to create AFGE’s first Black constituency group in history, and now serves as the Co-chair of that national constituency group. Through his various positions and activism, Dr. Roberson is driven to eradicate workplace bullying, mistreatment, racism, sexism, and profiling.
Dr. Roberson is also active in higher education. He is currently an assistant professor at Pepperdine University, where he teaches several political science courses centered around American Politics, as well as Race and Ethnic Politics. Further, he is also a visiting lecturer at UCLA, where he teaches Black Labor Activism. 2022. Early in his career, Dr. Roberson attained an Associate's degree in the field of Economics from El Camino Community College. During his time at El Camino College, he was a winner in a nationwide competition hosted by NASA and began 9 years of work estimating the costs of satellite systems at the Los Angeles Air Force Base, Space and Missile Systems Center. In 2013, after transferring to Pepperdine for his undergraduate career, Dr. Roberson achieved his Bachelor's Degree in Economics, and was accepted into Pepperdine's Business School. He finished his time at Pepperdine by delivering the student address during his master’s graduation ceremony, ultimately receiving his master’s degree in Finance. After attending the University of Southern California, Dr. Roberson received his second and third master’s degrees in Economics and Political Science in 2021, and completed his PhD in Political Science and International Relations in 2022. Within his PhD studies, Kendrick leveraged his career in finance and union activism to advocate for policies that will eradicate wealth inequality based on race and ethnicity throughout the United States.
